AFL star Mitch Brown becomes first out bisexual player in sport’s history
Mitch Brown made history as the AFL’s first out bisexual player. (Getty Images)
Mitch Brown made history as the AFL's first out bisexual player. (Getty Images)
Former West Coast Eagles player Mitch Brown, who played in the AFL (Australian Football League) for over ten years, has made history by coming out as bisexual.
Mitch Brown played for 94 games and ten seasons between 2007 and 2016 in the AFL, before stepping back from the sport at the age of 28 – and he has now revealed that the pressure of hiding his sexuality contributed to that retirement.
The former West Coast defender spoke to the Daily Aus, coming out as bisexual and making history in the process, and saying that he believes there to be closeted players in the AFL today.
“I played in the AFL for 10 years, and I’m a bisexual,” he messaged the publication.
In a longer interview, published today, Brown remembered the “hyper-masculine” culture of the sport, telling the outlet: “I remember two people having a conversation around how they would feel having a shower next to a gay man, and one of the players said, ‘I’d rather be in a cage full of lions than have a shower next to a gay man’.”
He added: “I remember those comments, and the conversation in the locker room just exacerbated that fear even more if you’re a gay man or a bisexual man sitting in that locker room.”
In 129 years of the AFL, no male player past or currently playing, has ever identified as gay or bisexual.
Brown said of his de-listing from the West Coast Eagles in 2016: “One of the biggest reasons I wanted to finish up playing AFL was to meet new people, to meet a diverse range of people, men and women, different cultural backgrounds, and I craved new conversations.
“I craved talking to someone and not being judged. I craved the ability to choose who I wanted to be around rather than to fit into a team.”
Speaking about hiding his sexuality while in the AFL, Brown said the “fear was so strong” of someone discovering his sexuality, that he “projected [his] masculinity more.”
“The fear of being caught out. You don’t dare, scared of being outed or someone calling you gay. And then because I wasn’t ready, I wasn’t confident in my identity and who I was, my natural reaction would be to suppress that to project my masculinity even more.”
Brown shares two children with ex-wife Shae Bolton-Brown – and the AFL star said that his former partner’s was “proud” of him.
He told the Daily Aus that she said the morning of their interview: “Good luck this morning. I’m so proud of you and right behind you all the way. This will make the world a slightly better place for our boys and young men in Australia, hopefully old men too. This is living the values of the kind of man I want our boys to grow up to be. Men who care and are proud of who they are.”
And though he’s blazed a trail, Brown insisted: “I don’t believe that this is about me. It’s not about Mitch Brown being the first at all. For me, it’s about sharing my experience so others can feel seen.”
The AFL, despite recent representation from Mitch Brown, is not exactly a safe haven for LGBTQ+ people; Adelaide Football Club player Izak Rankine was recently handed a four-match ban for the use of a homophobic slur. It was reduced from an initial five-match ban on medical grounds.
Sydney Swans player Riak Andrew was suspended in June for five matches for using a “highly offensive’” slur against a North Melbourne opponent.
Andrew’s suspension comes just days after West Coast Eagles player Jack Graham was similarly suspended for also using a “highly offensive” homophobic slur during a recent match against a Greater Western Sydney Giants player.
Three AFL players were suspended for using homophobic slurs in 2024, including Port Adelaide player Jeremy Finlayson, who accepted a three-match ban, and Gold Coast’s Wil Powell, who was handed a five-match ban.
St Kilda’s Lance Collard received a six-match penalty that year, too, which was the longest suspension in AFL history.
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